The past few years has seen a growing demand of automation in various processes of the manufacturing sector, largely due to an increasing need for operational efficiency and productivity, as well as optimal usage of resources.

With the growing popularity of Industry 4.0 as well, the deemed technological revolution, more manufacturers have also adopted Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced in machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, significantly increasing the implementation of automation technologies in factories.

In addition, more governments are also driving this adoption of smart solutions through implementing policy reforms such as the smart manufacturing policies by the Chinese government, that focuses on consolidation of relationship with government and industry associations on top of enhanced research and development innovation.

The industrial control and factory automation market involves manufacturers for control systems, field components, software and system integrators, all of whom are seeing a mushrooming of new product and software launches and developments, acquisitions, partnerships, and the like.

In 2014, the market was valued at US$135 billion. The Americas and Europe to date form the largest market, but Asia-Pacific ranks the fastest growing market. The report by MarketsandMarkets includes more information on this market and its trends, drivers and challenges, and gives a detailed view regarding the market across four regions—the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world.